According to John Tschohl of the Service Quality Institute, any complaint from a customer, or a co-worker, for that matter, is an opportunity to learn and to grow. Many customers simply take their business elsewhere. Those who come to you with a complaint are giving you an opportunity to solve their problems and to identify what changes in your company’s products or services might need to be made.
What are the barriers that prevent you from satisfying customers? Most barriers involve policy procedures and policies that prevent employees from offering practical solutions and doing so in a timely manner. Identify those barriers and then eliminate them.
Are you empowered to make decisions on the spot, or are you required to send the problem up the ladder to a manager? If that is the case, you are in trouble. Many managers do not empower employees to make decisions because they do not trust them, and they do not trust their customers. They think customers will take advantage of employees and that employees will give away the store.
When a customer comes to you with a complaint, you have cost them money by wasting their time. Make it right and pay them for their inconvenience. When you compensate them with credit for a free product or service, they will come back to you to spend it. By compensating them, you have bought yourself a second chance. Most customers do not complain; they just stop doing business with you.
Bemiss Rolfs, former president of National Car Rental had this to say about the value of positive resolution, ‘For every R16 ($1) spent in courtesy adjustments, we receive R245 ($5) in business.’ A study for the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs found that 95 percent of customers who register complaints will do business with you again if they feel their complaints were resolved quickly.
Make it easy for your customers to complain. When they do, they are actually working as your consultants. They are pointing out flaws in your products or services. If you have to compensate them for doing so, that is money well spent. Inside the reasons for most complaints is the knowledge you need to prevent them. Keep track of customer complaints so you can identify what changes the company must make to reduce or eliminate them.
Customer complaints fall into several categories, including poor customer service and low-quality goods or services. It is up to you to make their situations right. That means you must listen to their complaints, ask questions, get all the facts, apologise, offer options for solving their problems, and ask what they would like you to do for them. Do not get defensive or confrontational. Do whatever you can to satisfy your customers and retain their business. Practise service recovery and be relentless in making certain your customers are satisfied with your products and services.
Just as word-of-mouth advertising can attract customers when they tell their family and friends about your wonderful company, word-of-mouth complaining can discourage new customers from doing business with you. Studies have shown that a customer who has a complaint that is resolved to their satisfaction are more loyal to you than customers who have never voiced a complaint.
Customer service, including the resolution of complaints, is less expensive than customer replacement.
SERVICE QUALITY INSTITUTE
https://johntschohl.com/
